Discovery
by Ama E. Cinoskham
Summary: A young Lief makes a discovery underneath a loose floorboard. Something his parents have been hiding from him: a mysterious belt.


**Disclaimer- **Guess what? I don't own Deltora Quest.

**Author's Note-** Hello everyone! Long time no post! And why did I write this? Because the idea of a little Lief was just too adorable to ignore.

**DISCOVERY**

**By Ama E. Cinoskham**

It was noon, and Lief was hungry.

He climbed down from his bed, then padded, bare foot, to his bedroom door. Peering around, he caught the dull wafting scent of soup, and scowled. "Cabbage soup again!" he complained to Monty. The battered brown toy looked back at him with sympathetic button eyes and Lief smiled. "You don't really like cabbage soup either, do you?" Lief grabbed Monty and wedged him in the crook of his arm. Jumping the creaky floorboard just outside his door, Lief began to trot down the hall.

He stopped outside his parent's bedroom.

The room was forbidden to Lief, unless either Anna or Jarred was in there. The door was always shut tight.

And for the first time, Lief wondered why. Suddenly, he wanted to go in there. He wanted to discover the secret of the room. There was something in there, and he wanted it more than anything else.

Lief dropped Monty, and stretched to reach the door handle, but even standing on his toes he could not manage it. Pouting, he settled back on the balls of his feet.

And then the strangest thing happened. With a small click, the door swung open.

Grinning, amazed by his luck, Lief moved into his mother and father's room. The door shut softly behind him.

Anna and Jarred's bedroom was tidy and kept. Their bed was neatly made, and covered by a patchwork quilt his mother had made. The wooden chest against the wall had a fresh flower in a vase sitting upon it. The thin curtains covering the small window were drawn apart, the window open, so that light and fresh, cool air flooded the room. Nothing looked out of place. But somehow, Lief knew there was something in here. Something he wanted. Something that wanted him…

Lief stepped forward and stopped again. He looked down. And without hesitation he bent down and ripped up the loose floorboard he hadn't even known existed. His heart began to pound. There was something in there. Something wrapped in a fine black cloth.

Tentatively, Lief picked up the bundle. His skin had begun to tingle. The thing in his hands seemed to be warming him from within. Gently he put it on the ground, and unwrapped the cloth.

It was a belt. A beautiful metal belt, a fine metal chain linking together seven round, empty medallions.

Lief bent over it, greedily drinking in the sight of the strange metal belt. It was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.

"Lief!" came his mother's distant call. "Lief! Where are you? Lunch is ready!"

Lief ignored her. He reached out one, tentative finger. A spark jumped between the belt and his fingertip. He smiled proudly, like he had brought this strange phenomenon on himself.

"Lief?" his mother sounds worried now. "What it Monty doing on the floor?"

He flexed his fingers and hesitated, for a reason he could not understand. Then, at last, he went to clamp his hand over the belt.

"Lief?" The door was flung open and his mother walked in. "Lief…" her eyes widened as she saw what her son had. "Lief! No!"

Lief's tiny hand closed over the cool steel. He felt a burning, then a jolt exploded into his body, lighting up the room, flinging him backwards. He slid across the floor, until he hit the wall, his head cracking against it with a sickening thump.

Anna shrieked and bent down to him. Jarred heard the commotion and ran in. When he saw his son, shrieking hysterically with pain and shock, and the belt, still flickering sulkily, he understood immediately. Quickly he picked up the belt and replaced it on the high shelf, further back this time.

No sparks flew for him. It was too late for that.

He turned back to his wife and son. Anna had picked up and Lief and was cradling him in her arms, talking to him in a low, soothing voice. Eventually, Lief began to calm, his sobs turnings into hiccuping gasps. He clung to Anna, and she rubbed his head softly. She looked up at Jarred, her eyes wide. "How-?" she mouthed. Jarred just stared at Lief, shaking his head and unable to answer.

Suddenly, Lief's wriggled in Anna's arms and turned around, his eyes teary and searching. "Where'd the belt go?" he demanded.

"We put it away," Jarred said quietly.

"But I want it. I want the belt!"

"Later," Anna murmured. "Later you can have it. It will be yours,"

"Mine?"

"We promise," breathed Anna, and she hugged her little boy tight.

Anna watched over Lief until he fell to sleep, curled up in a tiny ball under his blankets, Monty tucked in beside him. She kissed his nose, gently touched the tender bump forming on his head, making the hair in that place stand on end.

"That cannot happen again," Jarred was standing at the door.

Nodding, Anna raised a finger to her lips and the two of them carefully slipped out of their son's room, making their way to the living room, where the could talk without fear of being overheard.

Anna collapsed onto the sofa and Jarred sat beside her. "We have to hide it," she said. "That cannot happen again,"

"I know," Jarred said. And he held up a plain working belt. It was made two strips of leather sewn together, and he had ripped the seam at one end apart.

"We will slip the Belt inside this. I will keep it on always," Jarred murmured. "I will not lose it again,"

Speechless for only a moment, Anna leant into her husband. "I know you won't," she breathed, feeling Jarred's strong arms curl around her. "I trust you,"

The next morning, Anna were sitting at the kitchen table and Lief was playing with Monty on the floor by her feet when Barda came in.

Barda did not come into the house often. Lief thought he was a beggar who sat outside his house and occasionally came in for a meal. But soon Lief would be old enough to realise that this 'beggar' was not what he seemed to be, and then visits would have to stop. More lies would be told, and another shroud would be put over Lief's eyes as Jarred and Anna built on their fragile plan.

But for now, they were safe. Lief was too young. In a few years, he would not even remember that he had ever called Barda a friend.

"Hello Barda!" Lief beamed.

"Hello Lief," Barda said, smiling slightly. Anna grinned. Whatever Barda said, she knew he was really quite fond of Lief. The big man reached out a blunt, calloused finger and softly touched the bump on Lief's head. "I heard you had quite a day yesterday,"

Anna and Jarred had told Barda Lief had climbed onto the kitchen table, then fallen off and hit his head. But instantly Lief grinned and Anna's inside clenched and her son began to exclaim loudly, "Yeah, Barda! Guess what? I found this bel-"

Anna dropped the plate she was holding and it shattered with an immense crash on the floor. "Sorry!" she exclaimed loudly. "Silly me!"

Barda looked at her very strangely, but got up and helped her sweep up the pieces. It took a few minutes, and by the time they were done, neither Barda nor Lief could remember what the little boy had been about to say.

"Do you want some toast, Barda?" Anna asked, quickly changing the subject.

At that moment, Jarred walked in, buckling his belt. He glanced at Anna questioningly, and she nodded.

"Nice belt," Barda commented idly. "It's new?"

Nodding, Jarred shifted the belt's unfamiliar weight on his hips, then turned to his son. "Lief, you want to come with me to the forge today?"

"Yeah!" Lief scrambled up and trotted over to his father. His hand hooked around his father's new belt, and he leant his head against the leather.

Lief smiled. "Mine," he breathed.

**A/N: **I hope you liked it! This story took me forever, I wrote the early draft for it over a year ago. I am such a procrastinator. Anyway, R&R, no flames please.


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